Ken Vollmer's Blog

There are four main categories of MFT solutions available in the market today, including:

Robust, general-purpose solutions. These are products that provide comprehensive MFT features based on enhanced FTP capability in the areas of security, administration, and governance support. One example in this area is IBM Sterling Connect:Direct, which has a long history in providing MFT support. Many other vendors, including Axway, Ipswitch, and Tibco, also provide products in this category.

High-speed solutions. A small number of vendors provide MFT products specifically designed to support high-speed file transfers. Tibco's RocketStream and GroupLogic's MassTransit are leading examples of this type of product.

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MFT alternatives can cover a wide range of needs within your company. But like the hydra slain by Hercules, MFT solutions often generate new challenges on the way to solving existing ones.

These challenges include:

• Identifying the type of platform the MFT solution should run on
• Determining where the applications will reside
• Deciding on whether to go with a typical software implementation
• Considering the benefits of a managed service (where a vendor like Axway can assist you)
• Considering the benefits of a SaaS model (where you can outsource the platform and use some flavor of the cloud)